I just finished a book last night called Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It was one of the options for readings in a Young Adult Literature class that I'm taking. At first, I wasn't particularly enthused with the writing of the book. I was expecting something written to the reading level of a high-schooler, but this was not the case. The writer who wrote Mortenson's story used, in my opinion, excessively long sentences and unnecessarily large words that the normal person wouldn't use, or even hear of for that matter. It took me a little while to get past the dramatic prose and into the story.

However, once I got past the initial frustrations of the writing (again, from a mainly high-schooler perspective for the sake of this class), I really started enjoying the book and this guy who became the beloved "Dr. Greg" in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To summarize the story, basically this guy tried climbing K2, didn't succeed, and ended up wandering along trying to find his was back when he took a wrong turn at a yak-hair bridge. He happened upon an isolated village where they had never seen the likes of him before. He learned that they didn't have a school for their children, and he committed on that day to do something about it. He returned home and began working and saving as much money as he could to return. He started fundraising, quite unsuccessfully at first, until one guy bought his story and donated the whole amount needed for a school. He went back to build the school but learned that what they needed more than a school was a bridge to their village. He returned and humbly asked his sponsor for a bridge, and he agreed. So, later he would rejoice with this village in their newly completed projects: a bridge and a school, which enabled their children to reach for the stars. Through this process, he learned what a need schools were in that area, and he committed to helping them in any way he could. Eventually his rich benefactor formed a foundation for him, and with the help of contacts in the U.S. and Pakistan, he made this is life work and started dozens of schools, especially for girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Amidst our 'war against terror', he was fighting terror in the best way possible: giving these kids a future so they have another option besides terror. It was a truly inspiring story.

This book helped me realize that my distant dream of starting a children's home/school for kids with disabilities in an area where they are rejected and despised is actually quite possible. Mortenson showed, through his story, that one person can make all the difference. Why would I use this one life I'm given 'taking care of number one' when I can do so much more?